Harold Brian Teaff

Family/Spouse: Living. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Texas Death Records 1964 thru 1998 Teaff George Ernest 07-07-1985 TAYLOR M

Abilene Reporter - News (date unknown) Ernest Teaff MERKEL -- Ernest Teaff, 79, of Shady Oaks Nursing Home in Abilene and a lifelong resident of Taylor County, died at 6 p.m. Sunday at the nursing home. Services will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday at First Baptist Church. The Rev. Kenneth Jones, pastor of Caps Baptist Church, will officiate. Burial will be a Rose Hill Cemetery, directed by Starbuck Funeral Home. Born Nov. 12, 1905, in Tye, he was a farmer. He married Willie Blanche McMinn Nov. 30, 1924, in Abilene. She died Jan. 2, 1984. He was a member of the First Baptist Church here. Survivors include a son, Harold of Abilene; two daughters, Mary Frances Melton of Abilene and Bobbye Mansfield of Merkel; a brother, Arthur of Orange; nine grandchildren; and 12 great-grandchildren. Pallbearers will be N.B. Teaff, Berneil Teaff, Johnny Teaff, Leroy Teaff, Glen Teaff, Bob Hay, Kermit Newton and Clinton Newton.

(Courtesy of Lynell Cordell)

George married Willie Blanche McMinn on 30 Nov 1924. Willie (daughter of John Oliver McMinn and Susan Marguerite Trawick) was born on 16 Jan 1905 in Omaha, Titus County, Texas; died on 2 Jan 1984 in Abilene, Taylor County, Texas; was buried in Rose Hill Cemetery, Merkel, Taylor County, Texas. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Abilene Reporter - News (date unknown) Blanche Teaff MERKEL -- Blanche Teaff, 78, of Merkel, who had resided at Shady Oaks Lodge in Abilene for the past three years, died at 2 p.m. Monday at the nursing home after a brief illness. Services will be at 2 p.m. Wednesday at the First Baptist Church in Merkel. Burial will be at Rose Hill Cemetery in Merkel, directed by Starbuck Funeral Home. Born Jan. 16, 1905, in Omaha, Texas, she moved to the Merkel area in 1923. She married Ernest Teaff Nov. 30, 1924, in Abilene. She taught school in Merkel and in the Stith community. She was a member of the First Baptist Church and was a past worthy matron of the Order of the Eastern Star. Survivors include her husband; a son, Harold of Abilene; two daughters, Bobbye Mansfield of Merkel and Mary Frances Melton of Abilene; five brothers, Eustace McMinn of West Covina, Calif., Leon McMinn of Stonewall, Okla., Juano McMinn of Barnsdall, Okla., Jack McMinn of Cortes, Colo., and Fred McMinn of Odessa; a sister, Johnnie Weaver of Spur; nine grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren.

(Courtesy of Lynell Cordell)

(Research):Blanche's obit says she was born in Omaha, TX but she may have been born in Oklahoma. Census records differ, however.

Notes:

His Texas Death Certificate listed his parents as Oliver Perry McMinn and Adeline Clark, both born in Tennessee.

The Daily Ardmoreite
Ardmore, Carter County, Oklahoma
Alma, June 16, 1902

J. O. MCMINN moved to Comanche. J. M. THAGGARD moved into the residence vacated by Mr. McMinn.

The Abilene Reporter News
Wednesday Morning, September 27, 1950

Ex-Teacher, Editor Dies At Merkel

MERKEL, Sept. 26. (RNS)--John Oliver McMinn, 88, retired Merkel farmer who formerly taught school in Oklahoma Indian Territory, died at his home here at 10:10 a.m. Tuesday. Funeral will be held in the Merkel Church of Christ at 2 p.m. Thursday with Minister R. L. Roberts officiating. Burial will be in Rose Hill Cemetery, under direction of Starbuck Funeral Home. Mr. McMinn was born Nov. 11, 1861 in Tennessee. When young, he moved to Louisiana and later taught school at Douglas. There he married the former Amada Phoebe Bryan. She died in 1893.

In 1895, Mr. McMinn moved to Indian Territory, where he taught school and edited two newspapers. He was editor of the Konawa Chief of Konawa and the Francis Bulletin of Francis between 1900 and 1908. He was also instrumental in organizing Oklahoma into a state. While in Indian Territory he married the former Susan Marguerite Trawick of Duncan, Okla. She survives.

He moved his family to Texas in 1924, and engaged in farming in the Merkel vicinity until a few years ago. In addition to the widow, survivors include five sons, Oscar of Pawhuska, Okla., E.R. of El Monte, Calif., Juano of Barnsdall, Okla., and Jack and Fred McMinn of Odessa; and two daughters, Mrs. Ernest Teaff of Merkel and Mrs. W. R. Weaver of Spur. Thirteen grandchildren and five great-grandchildren also survive.

(Courtesy of Lynell Cordell)

(Research):

Census Listings:

1910 Census
Oklahoma, Pontotoc County, Chickasaw Twp
Enumerated 11 May 1910
SD 4 ED 251 Sheet 11B
214-214
McMinn, John L Head M W 43 M2 13 Tn Tn Tn Teacher Public Schools
McMinn, Susie Wf F W 31 M1 13 6/4 Tx Tenn Miss
McMinn, Johnnie Dtr F W 9 S Ok Tn Tx
McMinn, Eustis R Son M W 7 S Ok Tn Tx
McMinn, Willie B Dtr F W 5 S Tx Tn La
McMinn, Janno O Son M W 2 S Ok Tn Tx
McMinn, Leon O Son M W 18 S La Tn La
Warren, Charles Boarder M W 22 S Ark Tn Ark Farm Laborer

1920 Census
Oklahoma, Pontotoc County, Chickasaw Twp, Ada City
Enumerated 13 Feb 1920
SD 4 ED 170 Sheet 10A
154-148
McMinn, John O Head m W 56 M Tn Tn Tn Farmer General Farm
McMinn, Susie M Wf W F 40 M Tx Tn Miss Farmer house
McMinn, Johnnie Dtr F W 19 S Ok Tn Tx Teaching School Teacher
McMinn, Eustace R Son M W 16 S Ok Tn Tx Farm home
McMinn, Blanche W Dtr F W 15 S Ok Tn Tx
McMinn, Jauna O Son M W 12 S Ok Tn Tx
McMinn, Jack H Son M W 8 S Ok Tn Tx
McMinn, Fred T Son m W 3 8/12 S Ok Tn Tx
McMinn, Leon O Son m W 27 M La Tn La Farmer Home
Griffin, Tom Hired hand m W 22 Un Tn Tn Tn Farmer Wages

John married Susan Marguerite Trawick on 17 Jun 1897 in Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory. Susan (daughter of James Jackson Trawick and Elizabeth Lucinda Adams) was born on 28 Apr 1879 in Wise County, Texas; died on 21 Mar 1963 in Merkel, Taylor County, Texas; was buried in Rose Hill Cemetery, Merkel, Taylor County, Texas. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

The Abilene Reporter News Abilene, Texas, Friday Morning, March 22, 1963 Mrs. McMinn Of Merkel Dies at 83

Merkel (RNS) --Mrs. Susan Margaret McMinn, 83, of Merkel died at 3:45 a.m. Thursday in Sadler Clinic-Hospital following a short illness. Services will be held at 3 p.m. Saturday in Merkel Church of Christ with E. M. Borden officiating. Burial will be in Rose Hill Cemetery under direction of Starbuck Funeral Home. Mrs. McMinn was born at Decatur, April 28, 1879. She married J.O. McMinn June 16, 1897 in Alma, Okla. A newspaperman in Oklahoma before moving here in 1924, he farmed here until his death in 1950. Mrs. McMinn was a long-time member of the Church of Christ. Surviving are five sons, Leon of Stonewall, Okla., E.R. of West Covina, Calif., Juano of Barnsdall, Okla., Jack of Loma Linda, Calif. and Fred of San Angelo; two daughters, Mrs. W. R. Weaver of Spur and Mrs Ernest Teaff of Merkel; 16 grandchildren and 22 great-grandchildren. Grandsons will be pallbearers. Elders and deacons of Merkel Church of Christ will be honorary pallbearers.

Notes:

Married:
"Pickens Co. Marriages" J.O. McMinn, 22 of Alma and Susie Trawick, 18, of Alma June 27, 1897 by T.J. Briscoe, MG

Notes:

Lynell Gentry notes that his headstone lists him as being age 64 at the time of the death in 1899, which would make his year of birth as 1835 instead of 1838.

Ken Harvey writes that they lived in Searcy, Arkansas when their their two oldest children were born. Sometime before 1871, when daughter Elzada was born, they moved to Coffeyville, Kansas; perhaps as a result of railroad advertisements promoting Coffeyville and Independence as two large towns on the Border of the United States and the Indian Territory.

The Homestead Act, enacted during the Civil War in 1862, provided that any adult citizen, or intended citizen, who had never borne arms against the U.S. government could claim 160 acres of surveyed government land. Claimants were required to "improve" the plot by building a dwelling and cultivating the land. After 5 years on the land, the original filer was entitled to the property, free and clear, except for a small registration fee. Title could also be acquired after only a 6-month residency and trivial improvements, provided the claimant paid the government $1.25 per acre. After the Civil War, Union soldiers could deduct the time they had served from the residency requirements. This served to opened western lands to qualified citizens, the Indian Territory of Kansas and Oklahoma-home to more than three dozen tribes-was subject to a series of legal measures that reduced its extent. A new philosophy of assimilation favored bringing Native Americans into the United States as individual citizens, rather than allowing them lands and tribal sovereignty-a philosophy that conveniently left many acres open for settlement.

However, these unassigned lands were not opened unitl 1889, and during the decades after the Homestead Act, settlers acting illegally forced the government's hand by squatting on Indian land. The Ingalls family, of Little House on the Prairie fame, was one of a group of white settlers who set up house on Osage lands in Kansas in the 1860s, before that tribe was removed (again) to Oklahoma.

The Trawick family did not stay long in Coffeyville. Kenn Harvey noted that "after the Jayhawkers became active they moved back to Searcy, Arkansas." In the late 1870's the family moved westward again, this time to Texas.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_vault/2014/11/25/history_of_western_settlement_railroad_advertisements_for_settlers_to_move.html

Wise County, Texas Deeds (researched by Charles Strong, 1998)

Vol 33, Page 192-July 1890 JJ and Elizabeth Trawick sold land to R.Z. Dunwiddie Vol 30, Page 446?-1894 Makes reference to Vol 33, Page 192 Initiated in Indian Territory Sounds as though the Trawicks moved to IT after the sale in 1890 but that the note wasn't paid and the deed file in Wise County until 1894

(Research):

Census Listings:

1880 Census
Name Relation Marital Status Gender Race Age Birthplace Occupation Father's Birthplace Mother's Birthplace
J. J. TRAWICK Self M Male W 45 TN Farm
L. E. TRAWICK Wife M Female W 34 MS Keeping House MS MS
M. C. TRAWICK Dau S Female W 17 AR At Home
W. H. TRAWICK Dau S Female W 13 AR At Home TN MS
Elzadi TRAWICK Dau S Female W 9 KS At School
George TRAWICK Son S Male W 7 AR At School TN MS
Ida TRAWICK Dau S Female W 3 TX At Home
S. M. TRAWICK Dau S Female W 1 TX At Home TN MS
Tom AUTRY Son S Male W 28 TN Farmer TN TN
Source Information:
Census Place Precinct 6, Wise, Texas
Family History Library Film 1255333
NA Film Number T9-1333
Page Number 224D

James married Elizabeth Lucinda Adams before 1863 in Arkansas. Elizabeth (daughter of William Valentine Adams and Nancy Carroll) was born on 8 Feb 1845 in Tishomingo County, Mississippi; died on 7 Feb 1933 in Ada, Pontotoc County, Oklahoma; was buried in Memorial Park Cemetery, Ada, Pontotoc County, Oklahoma. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

The 1860 Van Buren, Arkansas census shows W.V. and Nancy Adam's first child as Lucinda, age 14 born in MS. On the 1880 census, she is listed as L.E., age 34 born in MS. From then on she is called Lizzie, and her grave shows her as Elizebeth (sic) L. Trawick.

Ada Sunday News-Feb. 9, 1933 BURNS FATAL TO MRS. E. TRAWICK Mother of Mrs. W.R. Threlkeld Succumbs at Advanced Age. Mrs. Elizabeth Trawick, 88, died at the home of her daughter, Mrs. W.R. Threlkeld, 600 W. Sixteenth, Tuesday evening at 6:40 o'clock from the effects of burns sustained earlier in the day when her dress caught fire from a stove. Funeral services were held Wednesday afternoon at 3 o'clock at the chapel of the Hudson-Keith Funeral Home, Rev. W.M. Speck officiating. Burial followed in Memorial Park Cemetery. Mrs Trawick is survived by four daughters, Mrs. Mary Rennels of Canute, Okla., Mrs. J.E. Gentry of Arthur, Mrs J.O. McMinn of Trent, Texas, and Mrs. W.R. Threlkeld, of Ada; two sons, Henry Trawick of Hammond and George A. Trawick of Ada; 32 grandchildren; 44 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren. (Courtesy of Lynell Cordell)